Definitions
carpenter's plane; to plane (woodwork); to shave off; to peel (with a potato peeler etc)
to dig; to excavate; (coll.) to exclude; not to count; to deduct; to subtract
variant of 刨[bào]
About
The character 刨, constructed from the phonetic element 包 and the semantic radical 刀, originally conveyed general actions of cutting or scraping with edged tools. Its early applications included digging into earth or carving into materials, but over time its meaning refined to specifically denote the woodworking technique of planing, even as it continued to reference excavation in broader contexts. This semantic narrowing accompanied the development of specialized tools, with the character also serving as a noun for the plane itself. The consistent composition of 刨, with 刀 clearly signaling tool-based functions and 包 offering phonetic cues, has facilitated these shifts in meaning without alteration to its fundamental structure.
Example Sentences Hide
小明在刨土。
夏天我们吃刨冰。
木匠正在刨木头。
他刨开泥土找钥匙。
刨平木板不容易。
为了种花，她先刨了一个坑。
这台机器用于刨土豆皮。
工程师用刨床精密加工零件。